A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter game that includes both
first-person shooters and third-person shooters. These games simulate realistic
combat, thus making tactics and caution more important than quick reflexes in
other action games. Tactical shooters involving military combat are sometimes
known as "soldier sims". Game design
According to IGN, tactical shooters "are about caution, care, cooperation,
coordination, planning, and pacing. In those games, making decisive pushes,
quick moves for cover, strategic retreats, and last ditch grabs at the
gold are not only important to success, but balanced in such a way that they
become enjoyable activities in play." Tactical shooters are designed for
realism. It is not unusual for players to be killed with a single bullet, and
thus players must be more cautious than in other shooter games. The emphasis is
on realistic modeling of weapons, and power-ups are often more limited than in
other action games. This restrains the individual heroism seen in other shooter
games, and thus tactics become more important.
Overall, the style of play is typically slower than other action games. Jumping
techniques are sometimes de-emphasized in order to promote realism, with some
games going so far as to omit a jump button. In contrast to games that
emphasize running and shooting, tactical shooters require more caution and
patience, plus tactical shooters are usually designed so that shooting
becomes inaccurate while running which increasing accuracy for crouching or
prone stances. Players often have the choice of shooting from the hip which is
less accurate but gives a wider view of the area, or using the scope/iron sights
for better zoom-in accuracy but at the penalty of restricted view. Some
tactical shooters even lack the crosshair seen in other first-person
shooters, in order to achieve a high degree of realism.
Many tactical shooters make use of group-based combat, where the player
character is supported by other teammates. While early tactical shooters
had simple computer-controlled teammates who offered support fire, the artificial
intelligence in later games has evolved with more complex teammate responses
such as cover-fire mechanics. In games with a sufficiently robust artificial
intelligence, the player character is able to issue commands to other
computer-controlled characters. Some games in the genre allow players to plan
their team's movements before a mission, which the artificial intelligence then
follows. Many games also offer a multiplayer online play, allowing human
players to strategize. Team-based tactics are emphasized more than other
shooter games, and thus accurate aiming and quick reflexes are not always
sufficient for victory. The level design usually reflects the
game's setting. For example, the player may play the role of SWAT police
fighting terrorists or other criminals, or may engage in military combat in real
world conflicts as either battlefield soldiers or special forces commandos.
Some games take place in entirely fictional universes, and incorporate
elements of science fiction. Each level will have different objectives. Although
some levels may simply require that the player defeat their enemy, other levels
may challenge the player with objectives such as escorting a VIP safely to a
specific location or planting a demolition charge on a target. Levels
are often designed with check points or alternate routes. As "run and gun"
assaults are often met with heavy resistance, it becomes important to
exploit a superior position and/or take the enemy by surprise and even evading
them entirely. = Weapons=
Tactical shooters often feature a wide variety of weapons modeled upon actual
firearms, being more realistic than run-and-gun shooters, however simulating
actual combat is often sacrificed in favor of balance as well as playability.
There are often considerable modifications to in-game weapons and
ballistics from their real-life counterparts in order to ensure balance
in multiplayer. For instance Counter-Strike and other
games allow the player to survive multiple bullet hits to the torso and
even more to the legs, while registering an automatic kill for melee hits to the
back and "headshots". In contrast to run and gun shooters such
as Quake which allow players to carry full arsenals, tactical shooters place
considerable restrictions on what players may be equipped with, so players
have to carefully select weapons according to the situation and/or role
in their team. Half-Life: Counter-Strike's system of allowing a
primary weapon and a secondary weapon has been followed by other shooters like
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Wielding or carrying heavier weapons
such as sniper rifles and machine guns often incurs a movement penalty over
light weapons like submachine guns and pistols. Players often find loopholes in
this system, such as in Half-Life: Counter-Strike where they would switch
their firearm to a knife in order to run faster.
Due to the problem of grenade spamming, the effect of explosions are often toned
down and/or only 1-2 grenades are allowed to be carried.
History The tactical shooter genre was pioneered
in 1998 with the game industry generally crediting games such as Rainbow Six and
Ghost Recon with defining and refining the tactical shooter genre. Another key
title was Delta Force, which emphasized real-world weaponry and quick kills.
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, released in 1996, is one of the earliest
tactical shooters and one of the first 3D games with squad-oriented gameplay.
The genre was also influenced by the SWAT series, a spin-off from the Police
Quest series of adventure games. Rainbow Six has been credited as a
revolutionary game, which defined the conventions of the genre. The game was
inspired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Hostage Rescue Team, and
was designed to replicate a team of specialists performing a skilled
operation. The game was designed to emphasize strategy in a way that would
be fun for players without the best reflexes. The series has since become a
benchmark for the genre in terms of detail and accuracy.
Some of the most notable tactical shooters have been total conversion mods
of first person shooter titles which have been released for free.
Infiltration, a total conversion of Unreal Tournament, has been described as
"turning Unreal Tournament's wild cartoon action into a harrowing game of
cat and mouse". Infiltration has been noted for detailed aiming system
including hip and scope/iron fire while lacking a crosshair, different movement
stances, and a customizable loadout system that allows configuration of
weapons with a weight penalty. Half-Life: Counter-Strike, a mod of
Half-Life, was the most popular multiplayer game of its era despite the
release of first-person shooters with more advanced graphics engines such as
Unreal Tournament 2003. As of the late 2000s, contemporary
shooters such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have proven more popular than
futuristic first-person shooters such as Quake and Unreal, although the field of
true tactical shooters has been largely neglected by developers. Even
traditionally tactical shooter series like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon have
seen their sequels drift away from tactical realism towards cinematic
action centered themes, as can be witnessed by e.g. contemporary Rainbow
Six sequels which completely do away with the series' iconic pre-action
planning stage, or the overly futuristic settings of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier,
which provides players with invisibility cloaks and shoulder-mounted anti-tank
rockets while failing to adhere to simple tactical realism paradigms like
one-shot-one-kill. VBS2 is a military tactical shooter
simulation used for dismounted infantry training by the USMC, the US Army, and a
number of the NATO armed forces. Its new Pointman user interface combines head
tracking, a motion-sensitive gamepad and sliding foot pedals to increase the
precision and level of control over one's avatar, enabling users to more
realistically aim their weapon and practice muzzle discipline, to take
measured steps when moving around obstacles or cover, and to continuously
control their postural height to make better use of cover and concealment.
See also Military simulation, where individual
soldiers or units are not directly controlled by the player are often
real-time tactics games. Tactical shooters are video-games, while Military
simulations take place in real life. References